Tales from the Borderlands Episode 4
by PrussianOverlord
Summary: This is basically how I see episode 4 starting, with Rhys of course freaking out over Vaughn's disappearance. Sorry for short summary, but there's not much else to say about it :/
1. Chapter 1

~WARNING: Spoilers ahead! If you do Not want spoilers for Episode 3 of Tales from the Borderlands, please, do not read! Also, there is cussing.

This is basically how I feel episode 4 should start out, or rather how I hope it will turn out. But I am not a Telltale Game writer *and so thankful I'm not because this is actually really crappy, but I hope everyone likes it anyways*~

 _You chose to trust Handsome Jack._

 _You made a promise to Vaughn that he will never forget._

"It's up there, on Helios." Everyone was stunned by the little robot's revelation, each person present turning their heads up to the ominous moon base looming overhead.

"I'll finally get off this rock," Rhys heard Sasha mumble beside him. Looking over to her, he saw a look of wonder in her eyes. "Even if it's that wretched Hyperion base, it's something." He felt the hint of a smile tug at the corners of his lips and he looked back up at Helios.

' _To think we're going back there. It's been so long…'_ Rhys thought hopefully.

" _We. Right."_ The ex-company man grimaced as the cynical tone rang through his head. _"I'm in your head, I know you weren't including me when you say 'we.' I think you're forgetting something, Cupcake."_

At first, Rhys was unsure of what the handsome specter meant, then he remembered. When he stepped outside the dome following Vallory and her men, he was looking for someone.

Initial panic returning, he began to shout, "Vaughn! Where are you, Vaughn?!"

Frantically, Rhys tried remembering where he last saw Vaughn. His face drained and his breath haltered. He slowly turned his gazed to the beast of a woman standing before him.

"What did you do to my friend?" he asked Vallory, his voice low and threatening to break.

Vallory tilted her head for a moment, trying to think of who the young man meant. Then, in remembrance, a devilish smirk formed on her ragged face.

"You mean that tiny little psycho who thought he could put me a chokehold?" She let out a menacing cackle, but never answered Rhys, the expression on her face as she gazed down at him making him think the worst.

Rhys shook his head slowly in disbelief. "N-no, it can't, you…" his words came out slowly and he started to babble incoherently, his imagination running wild. The company watched him for a moment as he started to quiet down. He shook constantly and Sasha started to worry for him. Both she and Fiona's hearts sank as they too began to think of what might have happened to the little accountant.

As Gortys began to speak again, their attention was once again drawn back to Rhys as he let out a bloodcurdling scream. The scrawny man ran at Vallory. "YOU BIIIITCH!" He aimed to ram his head into her stomach. If his hands had been free, he would have tried for a punch to her face with his cybernetic arm.

" _Get her, kiddo!"_ Jack cheered behind him, but that didn't last long.

Rhys never even came close to her before one of her large boots caught him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back until he fell on his rear, choking, air having been forced from his lungs.

"' _A' for effort, Rhysie."_ Rhys did his best to ignore the ghost.

Once the young man got his breath back, he let out a growl, trying to get up to run at Vallory again. Sasha stopped him, getting onto her knees before he could stand, nudging him back down to his knees with her shoulders.

"Rhys, stop! You're only going to get yourself hurt!" Sasha kept her weight on her shoulder and his, looking down at his face fearfully.

"No! I can't! I-I made a promise!" Rhys looked up at Sasha, tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

Sensing that Rhys would no longer try to charge Vallory, Sasha lowered herself, taking some pressure off of the shaking young man next to her. In a calm, slow voice, she asked him, "What do you mean?"

Again, Rhys started to shake his head, his eyes wide. "I told him I'd never leave him behind." He let out a sob. Then his following words coming out in high-pitched squeal. "I left him!"

Watching the man cry, Sasha felt more pity than she ever thought she could feel toward an employee of Hyperion. If her hands had not been tied behind her back, she would have wrapped her arms around Rhys in an attempt to comfort him. Instead, she settled for pressing her shoulder against his, hoping some kind of contact would help. Even the bots were allowed to move closer to Rhys, Loader Bot brushing his knee with a robotic hand and Gortys patting his shoulder opposite of Sasha.

Sasha smiled at the bots before looked back at Rhys. "It's okay, Rhys," she lied, trying to get him to calm down.

"No, no it's not," the man sobbed, resting his head against Sasha's chest.

While the con felt uncomfortable, she only moved to sit her head upon his. She felt him shudder harshly against her.

Through choking sobs, Rhys said, "I promised him… and Yvette. We'd get back safely. T-together."

Fiona struggled under the rocket launcher, trying to look up at the ex-Hyperion employee. She had never heard the man so distressed.

"It's all my fault…" She heard him mutter. When she was finally able to lift head up enough, she could not believe her eyes.

"Rhys…" the con started, words hard to form when her lungs were being crushed by such a heavy piece of weaponry.

"I'm so sorry, Vaughn, so sorry…" Rhys choked through heavy sobs.

Then Fiona repeated, this time Gortys joined in, having also looked up. "Rhys!" Gortys tugged at his shoulders.

" _Hey, you just blocking everyone out now or something? C'mon, Pumpkin, turn around!"_ But through all his incessant apologizing, Rhys couldn't hear anyone, even the voice inside his head.

"Sorry for what, bro?"

Sasha lifted her head in surprise, a relieved laugh escaping her lips.

"I can still hear his voice," Rhys shuddered, shaking his head.

"Seriously, Rhys, I'm right here."

Rhys slowly lifted his head, confused. For a moment he looked beyond Loader Bot at Fiona and Vallory. The older woman shook her head, chuckling before nodding her head, gesturing for him to turn around, Fiona making the same vigorous gesture as best she could.

Taking a deep breath, Rhys, slowly turned his head. His heart leapt at the sight. He shook his head, blinking rapidly, and once he was sure it wasn't just a specter before, he jumped to his feet, Gortys stumbling back in surprise, Loader Bot catching the smaller Atlas bot before it fell over.

"VAUGHN!" Rhys shouted, grinning through his tears. As he examined his friend, though, the grin started to fade. "Are you okay, bro?"

The shorter man's glasses were missing, and a gash split over his right temple, blood trailing down his cheek and neck leaving a big red stain on his white shirt.

Vaughn shrugged. "Head hurts."

"Heh, I bet," Rhys chuckled nervously. "What happened?"

"She slammed me back into a tree, then hit me with the butt of her rocket launcher. I think my glasses got broken, but I wasn't able to find them before these guys started dragging me here," Vaughn explained, tilted his head back, gesturing to the men holding his arms behind him. "You'll be my eyes until I get new glasses, right Rhys?" The small accountant smiled faintly.

Rhys had to chuckle at that. "Of course, man."

"You have mine, too," Sasha chimed.

"Yeah," Fiona grunted behind them, still struggling under the rocket launcher. "Could you please get this off of me?!"

Vallory sighed, reaching down to the weapon. "Tie her up quick," she ordered a pair of her bandits nearby.

Fiona took in a deep breath, much happier with her hands behind her back as opposed being crushed by a hunk of metal. As she joined her friends, Gortys spoke up.

"You're not going to rip out your eyes and give them to him, are you?" Gortys asked, worried.

Everyone laughed. "No! It's just an expression! We're going to help him see by not letting him bump into things and tell him what we see, stuff like that," Rhys explained to the little robot, who seemed relieved.

"Well, in that case, you have mine too!"

"Thanks, everyone." Vaughn smiled, looking to each of his friends.

Rhys looked back to Vallory, afraid to ask what was on his mind, but he his fears did not hold him back. "Hey, could I be untied for a moment?" The woman narrowed her eyes, untrusting. "I won't cause any trouble, I swear." Rhys' eyes and tone were sincere, so Vallory caved.

"No, you won't," she said menacingly, stepping forward, undoing the ties around Rhys' hands herself.

Hands free, Rhys rubbed his wrists for a moment before he wrapped his arms around his best friend. The men holding Vaughn let him go as well for the moment, and the shorter man returned the hug tightly.

"I'm so happy you're okay. I thought you were…"

"Don't worry about it." Vaughn's words were muffled as his face was buried in Rhys' shoulder. The taller man couldn't care less about the blood starting to stain his jacket.

"I should've stayed behind. I mean, we got caught anyways." Rhys looked down at Gortys for a moment.

"No way, man." Vaughn tilted his head back to look up at his friend. "You needed to help Gortys. Besides, if you had stayed behind, she could've hit you too, might've messed up your ECHO eye. Everything happened the way it should have for a reason, it's okay Rhys. I know you would've helped me, but you needed to help the others more." Vaughn smiled brightly before placing his face against Rhys' chest again.

Tears pricked the corners of Rhys' eyes for a moment then he gripped Vaughn tighter, resting his head down on the shorter man's own.

" _Aw, aren't you guys just adorable,"_ Jack snickered sarcastically. Rhys simply ignored him, not wanting to make the hug awkward by acknowledging the ghost who was invisible to everyone else.

For a moment they stood like that, the others watching intently, Vallory surprisingly letting them have their moment.

Without lifting his head, Rhys mumbled, "Ready to see Yvette again?"

Vaughn pulled back quickly. "Wait, what?!" The short accountant's face lit up.

"Gortys' next part is apparently up on Helios, can you believe it?"

"No! This is awesome! Heh, now I can tell Yvette I fought the ruthless bandit, Vallory, and lived!" Vaughn bounced giddily at the thought.

"For now," the Queenpin clarified. Vaughn was too excited to be intimidated by her words.

Rhys chuckled. "Yeah, I bet she'd get out of that."

"Hey, I wonder if she could get me a new pair of glasses, too…" Vaughn stood still in thought, but shrugged it off quickly, jumping up to pull Rhys down into a hug, Sasha giggling at them. Fiona shook her head, a smile splayed across her lips, and Gortys hugged Rhys' leg, mimicking Sasha's laughter.

"What the hell is this?" The happy moment was over as August sauntered over, scowling at the group. He walked past them, eyes glued to Sasha as he went to Vallory's side. "Tie those fools back up," he barked, nodding his head towards Rhys and Vaughn. The two men didn't protest, figuring their hug had probably stretched Vallory's patience as well.

The group turned to face Vallory. "Now what?" Fiona asked.

"Well, now we find a way to Helios."

August looked at his boss incredulously. "Helios?! Huh, guess we should've let Vasquez live, he might've been able to help."

Vallory glared at him, wanting to mention his choice of words, but she chose to ignore it for now. "He helped enough. He said those scrawny brats had some high bounties on their heads." She gestured to Vaughn and Rhys, the two men's faces twisting in surprise.

"W-we have bounties?!" Rhys shook his head. "Unbelievable!"

"Really? Apparently you stole a car, a Loader Bot, and ten million dollars. Not only will we get the next piece to Gortys, but we also get 20 million when we escort you safely to Helios," Vallory explained.

Sasha and Fiona looked at the two ex-Hyperion employees, who stood uncomfortably, Rhys even going as far to drop his gaze in shame.

"You two _stole_ all that?" Sasha shook her head, not believing it for a second. "I mean, the money makes sense, but LB and a… car? You stole that from your own company, sheesh!"

"You _are_ all just a bunch of crooks up there, huh?" Fiona added, taunting them jokingly.

" _Huh, didn't realize you kiddos had the spine to steal from_ my _company."_

Rhys shook his head, giving the ghostly Handsome Jack a quick glare before returning his gaze to the ground.

"Alright, kiddos," Vallory started.

" _Wow, it sounds really creepy when she says it,"_ Jack said, crossing his arms and shaking his head in a disapproving manner.

The comment had Rhys in tears as he tried not to laugh out loud.

"It's time we found an old Hyperion station. There's bound to be something like a rocket to get us up to that base. Now we should be able to get clearance because of those two, but if not, too bad. Helios is just going to have to deal with us, won't they?"

*end scene*

*and I honestly feel like the opening music is going to be when they're one whatever rocket or whatever trying to get back to Helios. That would be awesome*

~So, yeah, I hope this turned out okay. I think there might be some issues with trying to keep people in character, especially Fiona and Vallory :/

But I just keep imagining Rhys freaking out over Vaughn's disappearance, like most of the fandom did when the episode was first released. I really hope Telltale doesn't leave us hanging for as long as they did with this past episode! I don't think I could handle another 3-4 months ;-;

Thank you for reading and all critiques are welcome~


	2. Chapter 2

I regret to inform anyone who enjoyed this short opening that I do not plan on continuing it, at least not on a canon-esque route.

Since before writing this, I had ideas for a Borderlands crossover with my favorite villains from the anime Fairy Tail, and after I wrote this, I had perfect ideas for how I would finally incorporate my crossover, and that is what I am currently working on.

I know some people were probably looking forward to a more canon continuation for this, but I'm just not sure how to continue it. I mean, I have vague ideas, but so far, they have just been forming together much easier with my crossover tied into the mix.

So I apologize if this disappoints some folks, but this is my fanfic and I shall do what I want with it. However, when I upload my crossover, it will be its own fic, with references to this opening.

Also, I encourage anyone if they want to continue this on their own :)

Sorry for any inconveniences~


End file.
